I placed my hand back on the pentagram and Devereux’s voice whispered in my mind, ‘This necklace is your protection. You must never remove it.’
What the hell?
Expecting him to pop in, I looked around, but nothing happened. I thought vampires couldn’t go out in the sunlight, so where’d the voice come from? But then, after what I’d seen, I could testify that there was no rule book for what Master Devereux could or couldn’t do.
I lifted the necklace over my head again and in the nano-seconds it took me to do that, the pentagram returned to rest between my breasts.
The same words floated through my mind. ‘This necklace is your protection. You must never remove it.’
Apparently, Devereux had somehow implanted a message in the talisman that replayed any time the pendant lost contact with my skin.
Well, to hell with it. I’d leave the damn necklace on. It was just another way that Devereux had reached out to intrude on my life and I wasn’t going to give it one more moment of attention than I had to.
I finished washing and rinsing, wrapped up in a towel and stepped out of the shower.
My cell phone rang – Midnight calling to schedule a time to meet. We set the appointment for two hours later, which gave me time to get dressed and eat something. My empty stomach echoed like an abandoned cave.
I made a sandwich, sat in the living room, and turned on the TV. I clicked through the channels until I came to a live news broadcast featuring an interview with my favourite detective.
‘Lieutenant Bullock, can you give us an update on the case everyone is calling the Vampire Murders? Do you have any leads? Any suspects? Are you close to an arrest?’ the young reporter asked.
‘We’re following several leads,’ a very tired-looking Lieutenant Bullock said. ‘I’m not at liberty to give any specific information at this time.’
‘Is it true that the bodies were drained of blood? What kind of serial killer does that? Do you have any evidence that the killer actually drinks the blood?’
‘That’s sensational speculation, young lady, not good journalism. All we know now is that five people are dead.’
‘Do you know how psychologist Kismet Knight is involved in the murders?’
‘No comment. When we have more details, we’ll schedule a press conference. That’s all for now.’ With that, Lieutenant Bullock stalked away from the camera.
Great. I’m a star.
I clicked off the TV, reflecting that Lieutenant Bullock was as rude to everyone else as she’d been to me. But she looked exhausted. She’d probably been working round the clock since the murders began. Five people dead. I wondered what Emerald had in common with the other victims. Alan probably knew. I’d have to ask him. The comment Officer Colletta made in the squad car came back to me, the one about the killer possibly being one of my clients. Chills raced up my body. What if it was true? I barely knew some of my new vampire-wannabe clients. Could one of them be responsible?
I pushed the thought away and went back upstairs to finish getting dressed. A short time later, I’d just picked up my briefcase and purse to head out the door when my cell phone rang again.
This time it was Alan. He sounded a lot more solid and had retrieved his usual cocky attitude. He launched right in. ‘So, did I imagine it, or did Devereux plant a passionate wet one on you when I was there yesterday?’
‘Uh, I seem to recall something of that nature.’
‘You want to tell me what’s going on?’
‘No.’
‘What?’
‘Sorry, I don’t mean no, I don’t want to tell you, I mean not right now. I need to get over to my office for an appointment. Besides, I’m seriously burned out on talking or thinking about all the weird crap that’s been going on. I’m running on empty. Could we discuss it later?’
‘Sure.’ He paused. ‘I just thought maybe you and I had possibilities, but after what I saw, I don’t know any more. What do you think? Do we have possibilities?’
Ah, shit. This is exactly the messy kind of issue I don’t want to discuss. The stuff I don’t have one clue about.
I couldn’t keep all the impatience and frustration out of my voice as I paced around the room. ‘Can I waffle and say that I’m confused? That I don’t even know my name right now, much less what’s happening with my love life? Seriously, can we put a bookmark in this discussion?’
‘Absolutely.’ His voice became more formal, less friendly. ‘We’ll talk later. Things are still crazy for me, too – there’ve been some leads in the Emerald Addison murder case and I don’t know when I’ll have a spare minute. I’m going to have one of the black-and-whites drop me off at your place so I can pick up my car. I’ll get the clothes some other time. I’m ready whenever you are – ball’s in your court.’
Either he’d decided to humour me or he really caught the vibe. Or maybe he really didn’t care all that much. Then the confusing possibility that he cared too much raised its scary head and gave me brain overload.
‘Thanks.’ I nodded, then remembered he couldn’t see me. ‘Talk to you soon.’
Feeling like I’d just dodged a very large bullet, I willed myself to relax.
I stole one more peek out my window to see how many media types were lurking before I made my escape. There weren’t quite as many as the day before, but the remaining reporters appeared to be hunkered down for the duration. Officer Colletta told me yesterday that my office was surrounded and I assumed the situation there hadn’t changed either. I needed a little help.
Cautiously I stuck my head out the front door. Various media representatives jumped to their feet and started yelling questions again, on-air personalities brushed dirt off the seats of their slacks. The military fellows were gone. One of the officers looked my way when the chaos started and I signalled him to come over. He trotted up to the door.
‘Is there a problem, Dr Knight?’ He removed his sunglasses. ‘Do you need something?’
‘No problem, officer. I have to go to my office to see a couple of clients. Could you help me get out of my garage without running over any cameramen or TV anchors? And could you alert your associates at the office building that I’m headed their way?’
‘We’ll take care of it. Will you return to home after that? We have orders to stay here indefinitely.’
Really? Indefinitely? I wonder what they’d do if they found out all this was because of a vampire whispering in the chief’s ear.
‘Yes, I’ll be back after that. I really appreciate your help.’
‘We’ll clear the way.’ He replaced his glasses and headed back to the line of police cars.
I waited a few seconds for the authorities to get into place then walked through the adjoining door from the kitchen to my attached garage, which opens onto a paved alley. I had no idea how many reporters were back there. I got into my car, clicked the door opener and startled a handful of men and women sitting on the driveway, playing cards, their recording equipment stacked up around them like an electronics garage sale. I revved the car motor as several officers arrived, and luckily the squatters didn’t stick around long enough to discover if I would have rolled over them. They scattered, yelling to their colleagues out front. One brave soul jumped on my hood with his video camera and managed to film a few seconds of me smiling and waving before the officer who came to my door pulled him off.
Even something as familiar and comfortable as driving required extra attention. I caught a glimpse of my eyes in the mirror, half-expecting to see a shell-shocked reflection, and was surprised to appear so normal. As if nothing had changed. As if I hadn’t lost my mind. As if I still lived in a world where there were no such things as vampires.
I was more comfortable believing I was nuts.
My office was just a few minutes away and I managed to get there with only a small caravan of journalists on my tail. The parking lot across from the building was filled with the same assortment of vehicles and people as the street in front of my house. I had to drive a block down to find a place to park. I locked my car, grabbed my briefcase and made a dash for the entrance. Officers swarmed from all directions, holding everyone back and giving me the opportunity to make it inside the lobby, where it was strangely quiet.